Panel to probe reports of Hindu girl`s rape: Pak Parl

Islamabad: Pakistan`s Parliament on Thursday asked its Standing Committee on Human Rights to probe reports of the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl from the minority Hindu community.

The National Assembly or lower house of parliament referred the matter to the panel after it was raised by ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Nawab Yousuf Talpur.

Talpur, who represents the Mirpurkhas area of Sindh province in parliament, said Vajanti, a six-year Hindu girl, had allegedly been raped and that her family was being implicated in false cases.

Chief Whip Syed Khurshid Shah, who is also the Religious Affairs Minister, informed the House that he had taken up the matter with the Sindh Police chief and asked him to investigate the incident.

Shah suggested the Speaker of the National Assembly should refer the matter to Standing Committee on Human Rights for an investigation.

Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, who was conducting the proceedings, referred the matter to the panel and asked its chairman, Riaz Fatyana, to submit a report at the earliest.

No further details about the alleged rape could be immediately ascertained.
There have been several reports of harassment and kidnapping of members of the minority Hindu community in Sindh and Balochistan provinces this year.

Reports have said that dozens of Hindu families had stayed on in India after travelling to the neighbouring country for pilgrimages.